Cider-mill



lUNITED STATES PATENT OEErcE.

LEE MIDDLETON, on CLARKASVILLE, MISSOURI.

clDl-:pR-MILL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 508,958, dated November21, 1893. Application filed February 13, 1893. Serial No. 462,010. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known` that I, LEE MIDDLETON, a citizen of the United States,residing at Clarksville, in the county of Pike and State of Missouri,have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Cider-Mills; and Ido hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same, reference being had tothe annexed drawings,making a part of this specification, and to the letters of referencemarked thereon. l

The present invention has relation to that class of cider-mills vwhereinis employed a grinding cylinder orv roller arranged below a suitablehopper and a horizontally. operating screw for compressing the pomace inextracting the juice therefrom and afterward conducting it out of themill.

It is the object of the invention to improve this class of cider millsin the several details of construction, whereby the action upon thefruit will be rendered more perfect in reducing'it to a state of pulpnecessary to extract the juice therefrom, also yin materiallysimplifying the operating parts and in the general construction of themill and thus enhance its value and render it more practical in itspurpose. These several objects I attain by the constructionsubstantially Vas shown in the drawings and hereinafter described andclaimed.

Figure 1 of the drawings represents a vertical longitudinal section of acider-mill constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2represents a transverse section taken on line y y of Fig. 1, looking inthe direction of the arrows. Fig. 3 represents a detail sectional viewtaken on line a: a: of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;Fig. 4 a detail View in perspective of one end of the compressor plateshowing the crank-rod upon the end. Y

In the accompanying drawings A represents a suitable cylinder which issupported by suitable standards or legs B of any preferred constructionand size fonndbest adapted to the purpose, or a suitable frame may beused to which the several parts'of the mill may be connected.

The legs B at one end of the mill have an upward extension C to form oneend of the mill and one side of the hopper D, and also form bearings forthe shafts a b.

'Ihe hopper D may be of any suitable construction and may be connectedin place by boltsiand nuts or other like means and has upon its interiorsides del'ecting plates c which are disposed on an incline and extendthe entire length of the hopper. These deflecting plates may be formedon the sides of the hopper or made separately and afterward secured in`place by any well known` means, and the purpose thereof is to guide thefruit to the crushing roller E. This roller is suitably connected to theshaft a and has upon its periphery spiral ribs d to more effectuallycrush the fruit as it passes from the hopper onto the roller. i Y Withinthe hollow cylinder A is located a spiral screwF for receiving thepomace from the crushing roller E and compressing it Yto extract thejuice therefrom. As the juice is extracted from the pomace it passesdown through the opening e of the cylinder Aonto the trough, where itflows down the incline thereof and passes out through the nozzle orspout g into a receptacle placed in position to vreceive it. The troughG is detachably connected to the cylinderA so that it can be removed forcleaning, a screw f or other well known means being used for attachingthe trou'ghrtothe cylinder. h

In. order to contract the discharge opening at the end of the cylinderA, I provide what is termed a contracting head H connected thereto byscrew threads or other well known means that will admit -of the head'being detached and removed should it be desired t replace it by anotherhaving a smaller or larger opening, or to remove it for the purpose ofwithdrawing. the screw from the cylinder. The employment of some meansfor contracting the dischargeopening in the end of the cylinder is founddesirable so that the pulp will not pass out faster than the juice canbe extracted.

Below the hopper D and upon one side of the crushing roller E, islocated a compressor bar I which extends longitudinally with the rollerand is connected to one' end of a crank- ICO rod K, the other end ofsaid rod being attached to an arm L upon the shaft b. The

opposite end ofthe compressor barI is pivotally supported in anysuitable and well known manner to the side Zv below the hopper D. Whenthe shaft is rotated, through the medium of the crank and arm abovereferred to, a vibratory motion will be given to the compresser barwhile the crushing roller is rotated, so that the fruit will be takenbetween the two and most thoroughly compressed and crushed.

The crushing rollerE and the screwF` may have motion imparted to them byany Well known means, such as any ordinary system of gearing usuallyemployed to run machinery, and may be run by hand or other power.

The most simple means of gearing I have shown in Fig. l of the drawings,which consist of a pinion h upon the shaft ot which meshes with theteeth upon a large drive wheeli upon the shaft b, the latter mentionedshaft having a suitable crank-handle M for turning it, and the shaft ahaving a pulley N to receive a drive belt, when the mill is run by otherthan hand power, or the pulley may serve as a iy-wheel when nototherwise in use. -The shaft b is supported in ball bearings as shown atk so asto lessen the friction and insure the shaft running easier.

Many changes or modifications may be made in the details of constructionwithout departing from the principle of my invention, and I reserve thisright to make any changes that would be considered as coming withinordinary mechanical skill.

Having now fully describedmy invention, what I claim as new, and desire-to secure by Letters Patent, is-

In a cider-mill, the combination of a horizontal crushing roller, ahorizontal compressing screw, a Vcylinder in which said screw is locatedhaving openings for the escape of the juice, a contracting -headdetachably connected to the end of the cylinder, and a detachable troughlocated yunder the cylinder, substantially as and for the purposedescribed.

In testimony that I claim the above I have vhereunto subscribed my namein the presence of two witnesses.

LEE MIDDLETON.

Witnesses:

JOHN H. MUSE, T. S. MCQUEEN.

